Me too: exposing the shepherds who were supposed to care for and protect their sheep

We carry on with the theme of sheep and shepherds in today’s passage from Zechariah 11. Now it’s time for a little roleplay.

God asks Zechariah to imagine that he is the shepherd of the flock. To stand as a shepherd for a flock marked as slaughter. Sheep from this flock have already been slaughtered and more will be slaughtered and the  shepherds caring for the flock have been helpless to stop it. Those who sell the sheep thank God that they have become rich. Those who buy the sheep and slaughter them go unpunished.

The sheep are God’s people: mistreated by the surrounding nations and not adequately protected and provided for by those put in positions of authority to care for them.

And God stands back and lets this scene unfold (for now. We’ve talked about this before. This makes no sense to us, but we have to trust in God’s way and God’s time).

And so Zechariah takes on this role.

Then I took two staffs and called one Favour and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock.  Zechariah 11:7

Within a month, he got rid of the three shepherds who were oppressing the people and allowing them to be badly treated.

And the flock detested him for it. How can that be? That makes no sense at all! Could it be that change is hard and they’d got used to a certain way of being? That they’d become accustomed to being the victim? It happens.

Zechariah got frustrated and weary of the sheep. He gave up on them. He broke the staff marked Favour as a sign of breaking the covenant between God and His people. He broke the staff called Union as a sign to signify breaking the bond between Judah and Israel. He accepted thirty pieces of silver as his pay and threw it away (as Judas did, when he too received thirty pieces of silver for betraying Jesus).

And God speaks of a time that is coming where his flock will be ruled over by a shepherd who will not care for the flock but oppress it.

For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.  Zechariah 11:16

Sounds like the work of the Roman empire in the time of Jesus, doesn’t it? Sounds like a lot of rulers and empires throughout history actually.

I’m struggling to draw a point and an application out of this today. All that’s filling my mind is sexual harassment. Forgive me if it’s not entirely relevant, but I sense a truth in this passage about being oppressed and being the victim that resonates with this issue that’s all over the media right now. Following on from the allegations about Harvey Weinstein, where it took one courageous woman to be honest and then others were inspired by her courage enough to tell their truth also….there’s a new uprising –

I read this on Facebook this morning and it’s troubling me. Women have stayed quiet about this for so long. They’ve feared that they wouldn’t be believed; that they’d be seen as responsible for encouraging it; that their careers and reputations would be affected. And some of that has proved true, as some of these women have received a backlash for revealing their truth.

That fear is what keeps women from speaking out. From posting ‘Me too’ as their status. Men have been getting away with this for so long. Those who are in positions of influence and responsibility have abused their duty of care and protection – bosses, teachers, politicians, celebrities, church leaders….this isn’t going to go away. This could really rock the structures of society.

And so some women will remain quiet. They won’t want to cause trouble. They won’t want to risk losing their job. They won’t want people looking at them and judging them.

I’ve posted ‘Me too’. Several scenes from my life immediately spring to mind. One of the leaders of the Christian Union at University encouraging me to do stuff I didn’t want to do because I was infatuated with him – relying on my silence because he knew no one would believe me. A senior teacher at the first school I ever worked at sidling up and holding my hand in an exam we were invigilating (OK, so that sounds like nothing, but it felt like a violation and I felt cheapened by it and ashamed – and scared to speak out).

More recently, I’ve urged another woman to speak out about a deputy manager at work who was abusing his position to put pressure on her sexually…and she would not, because she didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t want to rock the boat, she didn’t think she’d be believed….

Which leads me to think there’s a load more of this going on than we can begin to imagine (and let’s not think this is only men – I know men who’ve been sexually harassed by women too). And this is entirely relevant to today’s passage. These are people with responsibility to protect others: shepherds who are abusing that position to sexually exploit others. And God has seen it all. God knows it all. And God is burning with anger towards all those people.

It also explains that whole idea that whilst oppression is awful, confronting it feels even more scary. Blowing this wide open will have huge implications. Women who’ve kept their silence for years and years will be confronted by their own uncomfortable truths. Some will choose to join the movement and speak out. Others will not. Others will resent this journey towards transparency.

Those who abuse the trust that we put in them are the worst kind of shepherds.